The samurai blocked the spear I thrust as if he had known it was coming and countered like flowing water.
With a clang, his attack was blocked by .
As the headless samurai tried to continue his attack, he flinched and retreated. But I had done nothing.
— ?!
He must have believed an attack was coming for sure. After backing off, the headless samurai seed to realize sothing was off and flinched again.
I stood still and smiled inside as I continued.
The headless samurai randomly raised his sword to defend or tried to counterattack like a madman.
Again, when he charged at and was about to swing his sword, he suddenly withdrew it and retreated.
“What are you doing by yourself?”
Of course, the headless samurai didn’t respond.
— This is…
“It isn’t your concern, corpse.”
What people call “Mind’s eye” is sothing like a learned reflex developed through prolonged battle and experience.
To put it bluntly, people who get hit all the ti flinch automatically even when soone just raises a hand, right?
It’s the sa principle, only with a different result.
So what would happen if I pretend to make an attacking motion to that fellow who’s deluded in his ‘Mind’s eye’?
— Grgh…!
They react unconsciously.
Of course, this strategy wasn’t easy to execute. That delusion is built from countless real battles. If the motion is sloppy, they’ll notice.
You need sothing fake that looks real. To do that, you first need to escape from that illusion yourself.
And I had succeeded in escaping the trap of mind’s eye. I kept trying to pull the actions I do unconsciously into the realm of conscious awareness. In the end, I succeeded.
“What people call ‘enlightennt’ or ‘mastery’ really isn’t much.”
I’ve fallen for every one of those illusions like… the mind’s eye, sword sense, selflessness, oneness with the sword, or all-returns-to-one. And I’ve succeeded in escaping all of them.
“So…”
Whether it's the mind's eye or sixth sense, it’s all an illusion. Humans only have five senses. Even magical power is sensed through those five senses.
I can say that confidently. And I’ve earned that right.
The corpse, thinking it had brought out its ultimate move by relying on the mind's eye, was getting relentlessly pounded by like rice cake being pounded on New Year’s.
“Co here!”
I stomped down on the sword he thrusted at , then punched the arm holding the sword. The armor on his arm crumpled like a cardboard box.
“That must’ve hurt.”
Let help you hurt less.
I aid for the spot where his head should be and thrusted my spear down with all my strength. The spear pierced through his body and ca out through his rear. While still embedded, the Paradoxical Fla continued to burn.
— Aaa… Aaaaaaaaah!
I kicked him in the chest and used the recoil to retreat, then watched him scream. While he writhed, the intact armor began to crumple with a crunching sound, and dark energy spewed from where the head should’ve been.
Rotten blood and pus oozed from the gaps in the crushed armor, and he collapsed with a thud.
I approached the corpse, pulled out my spear, and scratched my head while checking the gunk stuck on the shaft.
“This would go great mixed with rice.”
“That’s unsanitary. You’ll get food poisoning.”
I was just being sarcastic. It seed like everyone was moved to the hotel, as Han Sang-ah had co up beside without noticing.
She checked the smartphone we received from the association and spoke.
“The coast guard said they’ll be arriving soon.”
“That’s good. Now we at least have a decent excuse to leave.”
At my words, Han Sang-ah asked,
“Are you not planning to deal with the Erosion Core?”
“No, I will. But I won’t move rashly until the people we rescued recover a bit and give us so intel.”
Hearing that, Han Sang-ah’s expression noticeably brightened. She always had a blank face like a carved ivory statue, so what made her finally show emotion?
“Then can you help with sothing?”
“What kind of help?”
She hesitated a little.
“Swordsmanship.”
“For free?”
Nothing’s free in this world. Even for training, you should at least prepare a lesson fee.
“If it’s money, I’m willing to pay generously.”
Money, huh.
“I make plenty just from completing requests.”
Han Sang-ah clenched her fists.
“Then tell what you want.”
“Let’s hear your reason first.”
She answered.
“I’m going to end Club Shaddai with my own hands.”
“Club Shaddai?”
I repeated, and she explained.
“It’s one of the Great Eight. You don’t know?”
I do. One of the eight most dangerous Erosion Cores in the world. Apparently, Club Shaddai is located right in Tel Aviv, Israel.
It’s also one of the major financial pipelines supporting Korea. Israel alone can’t handle the monsters of Club Shaddai, so they poured massive funds into hiring Hunter companies.
Naturally, top-tier Korean Hunter companies are getting paid a fortune to protect Israel.
“That’s quite a big target.”
She and I probably beca Hunters around the sa ti. And this might be only her second job too. Yet she already had her sights on destroying one of the Great Eight.
Han Sang-ah responded.
“I have a good reason.”
“Family problems?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded. Maybe she lost her parents there or sothing. I’ve heard so many tragic backstories that I didn’t even feel shocked when hearing these stories.
I learned that people can do the most horrifying things to others and that there was no limit to that.
“I think I’ve already said all I can.”
“I don’t need advice. I need instruction.”
She finished speaking, then pulled a business card from her pocket.
“Geumyang Group?”
“Market cap 257 trillion. My family owns it.”
I let out a small whistle. Han Sang-ah was from a wealthy family?
“Didn’t know you were such a prestigious heiress.”
I didn’t bother asking why soone like her would choose such a dangerous job. She already said she had a goal.
“Still, my grandfather is the current owner. I gave up on the successor race. I have no say in company affairs.”
So Han Sang-ah has no real power. If she tried to act under the Geumyang na, her relatives fighting over succession would tear her apart. That’s what she explained.
Instead, her grandfather was apparently happy she chose to beco a Hunter and supported her generously.
“Makes sense. You can’t be a Hunter and a company head at the sa ti.”
“Also, he probably heard I had talent. If a family mber joins or starts a Hunter company successfully…”
It would be incredibly reassuring. In the past, it would’ve been comparable to a child of a powerful business group becoming a judge or prosecutor. There’s more than enough value in actively supporting Han Sang-ah.
“The reason my magical capacity is high is because I got a lot of support.”
I scoffed.
“Magic capacity is important, sure. But there are plenty of things more important than that.”
As I said before, her aptitude is excellent.
Anyway, I now knew she was rich. And being friends with rich people is always welco.
“For now, I’ll help you until the rescued folks recover.”
“Thanks. What’s your price?”
I replied simply.
“Elixirs. But I won’t ask for rare ones. I’ll ask for different things daily. Let’s start with this.”
I took out my smartphone and showed her the first item. It was a white snake’s gallbladder.
“This is all you want?”
“More than enough.”
I didn’t really need fancy elixirs. All I need is to circulate a bit more magic than my body can handle to strengthen my bloodline.
“Let’s start now. Draw your sword and take your stance.”
Han Sang-ah obediently drew her sword and stood ready.
“The rule is simple. See with your eyes, hear with your ears, feel with your skin, sll with your nose.”
Taste honestly doesn’t help much in battle. You fight using those four senses.
“But I heard eyes and ears have a limit in reading the opponent's attacks.”
“Who said that?”
What nonsense.
“There’s a limit to human visual fra rate…”
“Sure, and humans can’t outrun trucks either.”
Muscle limitations make it impossible to outrun a 170kph truck. But when escaping from the shrine, I outran the truck she was driving.
“Human limits can be overco with magic. That applies to senses too.”
Can’t see bullets because they’re too fast? With magic, you can.
“Don’t rely on instinct. That’s like firing random artillery without coordinates. If sothing worked unconsciously, don’t rely on that. Bring it into conscious control.”
I finished speaking, kicked up my spear, and swung it at her left shoulder. She instinctively raised her sword and blocked it.
“That right there. You blocked on instinct.”
Before her brain processed my leg position, muscle movent, and gaze, her body moved on its own. If you rely on that animalistic behavior, you’ll fall into the delusion of the mind's eye.
“Think. Analyze. Understand. Why did you think my strike was aid at your shoulder?”
Data needs to be analyzed and processed to beco aningful information. Otherwise, it’s just junk.
Like that, for about three hours I attacked with my spear while she blocked and tried to counter.
“Again…!”
But her counters never succeeded. They were always blocked by my spear already waiting in the way. While we sparred, the coast guard and dics arrived to check on the rescued fishern.
“They should recover in about a week.”
A week, huh. I nodded after hearing him. That’s plenty of ti to have fun. While the dics cared for the fishern, Han Sang-ah and I kept sparring.
The sun set, the moon rose and set, and the sun rose again. Then once more, the sun began to set.
“Haah… huff…”
Han Sang-ah and I had not stopped sparring during that entire ti. Her pupils were unfocused and her arms and legs were trembling.
“You’re still out of it.”
As she gradually lost consciousness, she raised her sword to block another of my spear strikes. At that mont, I loosened my grip on the spear and rushed forward, slapping her hard across the face.
With a loud smack, her head snapped to the side.
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